Introduction to Literary Study

Exam Questions

1. 1Definitionofliterature. Thescopeofliterature. Artisticmerit.

literature is first and foremost mankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the
body of writing belonging to a given language or people; then it is individual
pieces of writing
But not everything expressed in words — even when organized and written down
— is counted as literature. Those writings that are primarily informative —
technical, scholarly, journalistic — would be excluded from the rank of literature
by most, though not all, critics. Individual attempts within these forms are said to
succeed if they possess something called artistic merit

2 Definitionofliterature.The purpose of literature. Reasons to read and study

literature.
literature is first and foremost mankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the
body of writing belonging to a given language or people; then it is individual pieces of
writing.

3Fictionandnon-fiction. Poetry and poetics. Definitions of poetry.

Essays, journals, documentaries, histories, scientific papers, are all common
examples of non-fiction works. Other works can legitimately be either fiction or
non-fiction, such as journals of self-expression, letters, magazine articles, and
other expressions of imagination. Although it is possible to be a blend of both.
Some fiction may include non-fictional elements.
Poetry – compact and concentrated way to convey ideas and thoughts,
exploration, values and senses.
Poetics – is everything which can be an object of research, analysis,
generalization.
Poetry is about emotions and expressions

4Literary study as afield of science.Main and supplementary branches of literary

science.
Supplementary branches of literary studies help to carry out a deeper analysis of artistic
phenomena. They are: textology, paleography, bibliography

5Literary study as a field of science. Literature among other humanity sciences.

Literary studies often enjoy the heritage of historical science, because it cannot ignore the
lasting connection of artistic creativity with the historical life of society. The works of verbal
art always reflect the originality of the time in which they were written (even if they weren’t
exactly historical). Literary studies can study many facts that characterize a certain historical
age and its events. Literary science has the appropriate tools to find out the causes of
specific works, the disclosure of the "spirit" of time, penetration into the atmosphere of the
historical epoch, characteristics of creative individuality . Using historical timeline, it creates
its own timeline that helps to substantiate the sequence of occurrences of literary
phenomena and to establish their internal connection. This is especially important for the
history of literature. Without specific historical knowledge, the researcher is not capable of
analytical and synthetic work with the phenomena of literature. Knowledge of history helps to
specify such literary concepts as "literary process", "literary life", "biography of the writer
 6Literature as an art. Connection of literature to other arts
Certain forms of writing, however, are universally regarded as belonging to literature
as an art.

.
7Literature as a verbal art. Literary language and the language of literature.
Literary language – language of educated people.
language of literature – poetic language and artistic language.
Literary language is a core of the language of literature

8Literature as a creative activity. Background for literary creativity.

Creativity – ability to generate innovative ideas and manifest them from thought to
reality. Creativity in art involve producing new art from which have never made before.
Background for literary creativity – 1 desire of fame 2 d. of popularity 3 d. to make
money 4 d. to receive moral satisfaction. 5. D. receive aesthetic satisfaction 6 self-
expression.

9Essence of the creativity. Plato’s, Aristotle’s and Hegel’s concepts of creativity.

According to plato demiurge (creator): In platos view there is creative agent calls
demiurge and there are internal ideas that exist in chaos. Creator arranges them and
creates real objects. The artist cannot create according to the internal idea, they can
only imitate the work of creator. The art produces the copy of copies, shadow of
shadow, imitation of imitations.
According to Aristotle – he also defined art as imitation but he made it simpler.
Artist imitates the nature (mimesis – imitation)
According to Hegel – he introduced new concept of art. In his view the essence of art is
not imitation of reality, but transformation of it. Art is a manifestation of free spirit of art.

10Artistic talent. Characteristics of an artistic personality. Stages of creative process.

Stages of creative process – 1 preparation (formulating the idea, collecting information
etc) 2 – incubation (destination) 3 inspiration (start) 4 confirmation (feedback, co-
creation with reader).
Artistic talent – skills and ability to create sms with using imagination.
A.t. can be natural (inborn) and cultural (enquired). Physiological and psychological –
natural talants.

Characteristics of an artistic personality: 1 well developed imagination 2 fantasy 3

catchy memory 4 capacity observing 5 artistic eye 6 intuition 7 flexible mind 8 sociality
of thinking 9 wit 10 inspiration

11Literature and its audience. Folk and elite literature.Modern popular literature.
Folk and elite literature.
In preliterate societies oral literature was widely shared; it saturated the
society and was as much a part of living. As society evolved its various
social layers, or classes, an “elite” literature began to be distinguishable
from the “folk” literature of the people.
With the invention of writing this separation was accelerated until finally
literature was being experienced individually by the elite (reading a
book), while folklore and folk song were experienced orally and more or
less collectively by the illiterate common people.
Elite literature continuously refreshes itself with materials drawn from the
popular
On the other hand folk literature borrows themes and, very rarely,
patterns from elite literature

12Literary work as a structure. Traditional division into form and content.

Content – is an idea – what it is about. Is authors vision of the world.
Form – how it is expressed (language belongs to the form). Specific way in which the
massage is delivered.

13Literary work as a structure. Three-stage construction of a literary work. (O.

Korablev’s concept).
For author: For reader
1 idea 1 Signs
2 image 2 Image
3 Signs 3 Idea

14Literary text. The Language of literature/fiction: features, artistic means.

15The Language of literature/fiction: tropes

Tropes are not images, they serve to create images. There are common and
authorial tropes.
Basic tropes: 1 personification 2 irony 3 pun 4 symbol 5 allegory
6 hyperbole 7 metaphor 8 metonymy 9 simile

16The Language of literature/fiction: syntax, intonation, rhythm.

Syntax and intonation: 1 individual synthetic techniques
2 synthetic figures

Rhythm is the pattern of sound created by the varying length and emphasis given to
different syllables.

17The Language of literature/fiction: authorial vocabulary, speciall exical recourses

(slang, archaisms, regionalisms etc. ).
18The style. Individual Style. Characteristics of a great style.
The word is derived from the instrument stilus, of metal, wood or ivory. The style or
impression of the implement is the medium by which the temperament is transferred
to the written speech. The style – arrangement of words, expresses the individuality
of the author, successful blending form with content, the badge of individuality,
language characterized by distinctive features.
it is the way the mind of the author expresses itself in words.
perfectly reflects the writer’s intention; reveals the inability of a writer to
match the two — in other words, reveals his inability to express himself.

19Translation of literary texts. Three “musts” of a translator. Value of translations.

Words do have overtones; they do stir up complicated reverberations in
the mind that are ignored in their dictionary definitions. Great stylists, and
most especially great poets, work with at least a half-conscious, or
subliminal, awareness of the infinite potentialities of language. This is
one reason why the essence of most poetry and great prose is so
resistant to translation
The translator must 1 project himself into the mind of the original author;
2 he must transport himself into an entirely different world of
relationships between sounds and meanings, and at the same time 3 he
must establish an equivalence between one infinitely complex system
and another
The very greatest translations may become classics in their in right, of
enduring literary excellence

20Elements of the fictional world

Is a self consistent setting with events, with other elements that can be similar or
totally different from the real world. Elemrnts of fictional world – 1 the setting 2 the
events 3 tha characters 4 the object 5 space and time construct.

21Elements of literary content / concept.

Content include such 1 Theme 2 idea 3 massage 4 problem 5 tone
Концепт тоже самое шо и контен

22Novella and a short story as prose genres. Their similar and distinguishing
characteristics.
also called a short novel, longer than a novelette but shorter than a
novel.
The novella is a common literary genre in several European languages.
A novella more complicated than short stories.[6] The conflicts also
have more time to develop than in short stories. not divided into
chapters, and are often intended to be read at a single sitting
23Distinction of poetry from prose forms in terms of form, in terms of emotional value.
 by its compression,

 by use of meter, rhyme

 by its reliance upon the line

 by its heightened vocabulary

 by its freedom of syntax.

Poetry moves us deeply. something of the world, express or evoke emotion.

24Literature: art or craft. Definitions of Style. Features of a great style.

25Literary types/ genres: epic, poetry and drama.
26Prose fictiongenres: typesandcharacteristics.
Role of poetry in historical development. Modes of poetry. Modern trends.
Poeticgenres: typesandcharacteristics.
Dramagenres: classification andcharacteristics.
Western and eastern conceptions of poetry.
Soundinpoetry.
Elementsofpoetry(rhythm, rhyme,meter, foot, line, stanza)
Writingsofliterature. Scholarlyresearch.
Writingsofliterature. Literary criticism.
Novel as a genre: what distinguishes it from epic and romance.